Ülgen

Ülgen is the supreme benevolent deity of Shor religion, creator of the earth and of living beings and lord of the uppermost of the three worlds, the Ülgen-çer or upper world. He is the master of the good spirits and the patron of humankind, invoked under the honorifics Bay-Ülgen ('Rich Ülgen') and Kaira-Kan ('Merciful Khan'), the latter sometimes treated as an independent high creator. In the widely recorded creation narrative he raises soil from the primal waters to shape the world, and the broken, mountainous relief of Shoria is explained as the residue of soil hoarded and then spat out by his brother and adversary Erlik. Sources differ on whether Kaira-Kan names Ülgen himself or a still higher creator standing above him.

Domains

• sky and creation
• benevolence and mercy

Powers

• creates the earth and living things
• dwells in the highest stratum of the sky

Epithets

• Пай Ӱлген — Rich ÜlgenA. V. Anokhin, Materialy po shamanstvu u altaitsev, Leningrad, 1924. (secondary)
• Кайра Кан — Merciful KhanV. I. Verbitskii, Altaiskie inorodtsy, Moscow, 1893, on the invocation Kaira-Kan for the supreme creator. (secondary)

Relations

• sibling: ErlikSources present Erlik as Ülgen's younger brother, his collaborator in creation and thereafter his cosmic antagonist.V. I. Verbitskii, Altaiskie inorodtsy, Moscow, 1893, on Erlik as the younger brother and adversary of Ülgen. (secondary)

Sources

• Ülgen is the supreme benevolent creator and sky deity, lord of the upper world (Ülgen-çer) and master of the good spirits, opposed to Erlik of the lower world.: L. P. Potapov, Ocherki po istorii Shorii, Moscow-Leningrad, 1936. (secondary); A. V. Anokhin, Materialy po shamanstvu u altaitsev, Leningrad, 1924. (secondary)